


Hey, Cochise

by underneaththemoon



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Institutions, Nonverbal Communication, Panic Attacks, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 02:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4902202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underneaththemoon/pseuds/underneaththemoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based off my au in which Josh has a panic attack so bad that he goes nonverbal sometime after Hannah and Beth die. His parents aren’t really sure what to do so they put him in a psych ward where he’s scared at first but makes friends with this nice blond guy who visits almost everyday and wonders why he looks so familiar and why it feels normal to call him cochise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey, Cochise

**Author's Note:**

> It's not my best work, but I wanted to try.

Six months after the incident, Josh finally snapped. He was already dealing with schizophrenia and with his sisters going missing up under his watch at the lodge, it was an attack his parents had been waiting for.

It started in the morning. He’d started every day since the girls went missing by looking into their rooms and saying good morning, like nothing had changed. Normally, he would remember over breakfast that they were gone, cry over his cereal, and then get ready for school. But the day it happened was different. Josh stopped at Hannah’s room and stared in watching, waiting. The room stayed dark as it always was now, but he waited for the light to turn on. With hesitance, the boy walked in and looked around.

“Hannah? Wake up, we gotta get up,” he mumbled with a groggy voice. Josh sat down on the bed, feeling for the warmth a body he wouldn’t find. When his hand felt nothing, Josh screamed loudly. And then he dropped silent. For a moment, while the world sat still around him, he did nothing. His eyes glazed over as he look into the void. He jumped up in half a second, stumbling out of Hannah’s room into Beth’s.

He sat down on the bed and did the same. This time there was no scream when he found no one there. There was no sound. Josh couldn’t find the words, he couldn’t find any words. His eyes were glistening with tears that pushed out with such a force. He could only weep silently, groaning occasionally in pain. Mr. and Mrs. Washington were at the door of the room at this point, panicked and scared as to why their son had screamed.

Josh rolled over and stared at his parents, the tears still rolling with a mighty force. His mother bent down, looking into her son’s eyes that were filled with an fear.

“Josh, baby, please, what’s wrong?” she choked out, trying to pull her child to be held her arms. Josh remained where he was, dead weighting his body to the floor. His father bent down now, keeping his distance.

“Son, talk to us. We love you. Are you okay?” Mr. Washington put a hand on his son’s leg which quickly recoiled. Josh scrambled away from his parents into the sheets of his late sister. Something had snapped in Josh’s mind. These people who had been familiar to him all his life now were strangers. The only people he believed he knew were Hannah and Beth, the sisters that were gone because of him.

Mr. and Mrs. Washington watched as their son heaved with sadness in the bed of their daughter. They weren’t sure what to do. Mrs. Washington suggested giving him time, Mr. Washington was afraid of doing that. A friend of his had suggested to him in a previous month that maybe getting his son put in a psych ward would get him better, would make him start forgetting. Mrs. Washington didn’t have any other ideas.

The next day, Josh and the Washingtons were off to the hospital. Josh remained silent the entire way, his eyes avoiding his parents after the fight to get him out of the house. Mrs. Washington held an ice pack to her face and held onto her husband’s hand with the other. The car radio quietly played a CD that Beth had left in the car before they left for the trip which seemed to relax Josh enough before they arrived.

After an hour drive, the Washington family arrived at the hospital. Josh was reluctant to get out of the car again. Mr Washington managed to yell at his son enough to scare him out of the car, but also scare himself to tears. The brokenhearted couple managed take their confused son up to the ward that the nurses directed him to.

The doctor that was wandering the floor talking to patients saw the family. He redirected Josh to a waiting room while he talked to his parents. Josh looked around the room, tucking his knees under his chin and hugging his legs. He knew where he was. These people who he wasn’t sure were were thought he was crazy. They had to get him out of their own hair. He sat quietly, resenting this couple as he watched them through the waiting room window.

A short talk with the doctor and a couple papers signed were all Mr. and Mrs. Washington did before they left. Mrs. Washington tried to smile at her son, but he just scowled in return. They’d be back, but only when Josh wouldn’t be afraid of his own parents. 

Josh was content to these people leave, but still remained with guard up while he remained at the hospital. A nurse entered the room with a soft expression. She explained to Josh that he had a room just for him here where he could rest if he wanted. He shook his head to which the nurse shrugged.

“I’d say you have a choice, but I can’t. I need you to go to your room, put on these pajamas, and sleep. Your parents said you stayed up all night trying to run away.” Josh removed his eye contact from hers, feeling betrayed. He knew hew had no choice here though, he’d have to do whatever anyone told him or else he’d never leave.

The nurse led him through the halls of the psych ward, Josh peering into the doors of other patient. Most were asleep, some stayed sat up in their bed. He saw a girl his age crying and wondered what happened to her. That’s what got Josh to stop in his tracks right before his door. Why was he here? He couldn’t remember much past his sisters… He fell to the floor, clutching his legs to his body and breathing heavily. Nurses from all over the ward ran to his side, following regime for patients going through attacks. The poor boy hyperventilated too hard at one point, causing himself to pass out.

The next morning, Josh awoke in a room. He was wearing the pajamas the nurse had given to him. Anything that happened the day before was a blur now. The room was cold and bare, the only things inside being a bed, a chair, and a little dresser. He got up and paced around. The only thing that he could think of was the fear of what would happened next. Sitting back down on the bed, he tugged the sheets from the bed and wrapped himself in them. It was going to be a long stay.

A few week later and Josh understood why he was there and how it all worked here. It was a life of routine. The only good part about it was this boy named Chris. He was blond, tall, and had a smile that made Josh stop feeling so scared. Chris would visit every other day. He brought video games and snacks and talked about stuff Josh was always enraptured in. 

“Hey, bro!” Josh had been fixing up his bed when he heard his friend come in. A smile crossed his face as he turned to meet him. Josh still hadn’t spoken since the time at his house, but Chris never minded. He always had enough to say for the both of them. But today was different. They exchanged a hug and Josh looked up at his friend and smiled.

“Hey, cochise.” It was a quiet response, but Chris was obviously taken back with emotion. He grabbed his friend and tugged him into a tight hug to hide his tears. Josh was confused to why Chris would respond like this, but it made him happy to just get to hug his new friend.


End file.
